OT: San Antonio or Austin Moms, how is the cost of living in these areas?

SO (significant other) and I are considering moving to one of these cities next Summer. As some of you may have heard, Puerto Rico's economy is not going well and our once secure job is now in now not so secure.

I was wondering how is the cost of living in these cities for a family of 5? Rent? Schools? Daycare? Just everyday expenses so we can know what to ask for salary wise. We both work in the IT industry, SO (significant other) has started the job search, I will start once the girls are born and strong enough to travel.

We live outside of Austin near Round Rock. I'm only 30-45 minutes from almost everything in Austin. We found that buying a house was cheaper per month than renting a place as have others around here. I substitute teach in 2 school districts and both a great. But that can vary by the actual school more than anything. What daycare I've seen isn't too bad price wise. We definitely enjoy living here. Just close enough to Austin but just outside enough that it's a bit more reasonable living cos.

Thank you all! We are really considering it because here the cost of living for "middle class" is just outrageous! We have a 11.5% sales tax on everything, even groceries. I spend $300 in groceries every 2 weeks and that is just buying the essentials. Rent is cheap $600 a month 4 bedrooms but I had to put my son in a private school because the public system is just awful for working parents. Here there is no such thing as a substitute teacher, if your kid's teacher didn't make it today, they call you to pick up your kid and it's your problem if you cant get back to work. I pay $355 a month for school, and will be paying $550 a month for the twins day care because a nanny is even more expensive. Utilities are also very expensive and some of them has sales tax included.

The company we work for got sold and now we have to pay health insurance from our paychecks starting January, who knows how much that is going to be. Our combine income is $2,270 biweekly, after paying everything we are left with $500 for 2 weeks if we are lucky. My BIL (brother-in-law) lives with us, he has a Masters Degree in Industrial Phsycology and he has had no luck getting a job because companies don't want to pay the salary. It's like no matter where we look or what we need there is just huge dollars signs every where.

We are considering Texas, my mom lives there and she lives well. I have a friend that landed a job in Dallas as a SharePoint Developer which is what I do, he gets payed almost 3 times what I am getting payed here. I love my tropical paradise but I am really convinced it is time for me to go.

We are in Austin and we love it! So beautiful, so much to do, and a great place to raise a family. However, I don't know what PP (previous poster) is talking about when she says "super cheap." Austin ranks up with some of the most expensive in the nation. We live inside the city and the cost of our home was outrageous! Prices continue to rise. Now if you move to a smaller town on the outskirts of Austin the prices are much more reasonable.

You definitely get much more bang for your buck in San Antonio but it's not nearly as awesome as Austin in my opinion. 😉

I live in Allen near Plano (30 minutes north of Dallas) where Toyota is moving to. There are lots of tech/IT job here, though it won't be as "fun" as Austin. I'm. I'm not sure about the rental market but you can get a brand new 4000 sq ft 5 bedroom home in the low 500's, which where I came from (Irvine CA) would have cost me 1.5 million.

I live in San Antonio. I use to live in San Marcos which is an like less than an hours drive. San Antonio is very family friendly and cheaper than austin, that's if you don't join any gyms here lol. I like to think San Antonio is a calmer place than Austin. I visit there a lot and always seems very busy but there is a lot more to do there than in San Antonio! Rent here is so-so. It all depends on what area you want to live in. I lived in stone oak area,higher living area, and rent was $700 not including water or electricity for a one bedroom! I also lived in San Pedro are,middle, and rent was $500 water included for a big one bedroom apartment. I'm not sure how rent is in Austin but here in San Antonio they keep building more and more things so lots of job opportunities here as well as in Austin both great choices!

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